The statue's message was loud and clear to a man with Thomas's background: the Qi ball was the god of this world, and the common people were expected to kneel in the water of its shadow, grateful for the scraps of energy that trickled down upon them.
Thomas stood before the fountain, the sight of the sculpted heads submerged beneath the giant Qi ball leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.
Yet here, in this grand courtyard, they were depicted as the ultimate blessing, a divine rain for the common folk who knelt in the stone water. It was a clear, silent lesson in the social order of this world.
"Oh, one second," Mark said, his hand suddenly moving to his pocket.
Just before they reached the front doors of the villa, the red-haired mentor seemed to get distracted by an internal alert.
